Rock Creek Forest Elementary School to be demolished, replaced

New school will be nearly double in size

Rock Creek Forest Elementary School in Chevy Chase will be razed and replaced with a $22 million facility of nearly double its size.

Construction is scheduled to start this summer and be complete in January of 2015, said James Song, director of facilities management for Montgomery County Public Schools.

The school was built in 1950 for a maximum of 310 students, but currently has 600 students enrolled.

“It’s crumbling and it’s way too small, bursting at the seams, and we’re thrilled that we will finally be able to give the kids the educational environment they deserve,” said PTA Co-President Beth Scofield, who has two children at the school.

The new facility will have a capacity of 740 students. The project is currently in the design phase, and is scheduled for review by the Montgomery County Planning Board on Jan. 10.

The project will be put out to bid in May, Song said. He said construction funds were allocated by the Montgomery County Council in the 2013-2018 Capital Improvements Program.

During construction, he said students will move to the Radnor Center in Potomac, which is owned by MCPS and used as a temporary school for facilities that are under construction. The move is scheduled for winter break in the 2014-2015 school year.

Every single teaching space in the current school is being utilized, and excess capacity is accommodated by six portables, said Acting Principal Jennifer Lowndes. She said the new building will have more room, and incorporate Rock Creek and Rock Creek park into the building.

The new facility will feature a tile creek running through it and, in the all-purpose room, a map of nearby Rock Creek Park with a rose compass, Scofield said.

“I am so excited,” she said. “I think it’s just going to be wonderful for the students, the staff and the whole community.”

The current building is about 54,500 square feet, according to documents from the Montgomery County Planning Board. The new facility will be 98,000 square feet.

The site will include 100 parking spaces, separate drop-off lanes for buses and parents, and green features such as a vegetative roof and low flow plumbing fixtures, Song said.

He said existing mature trees will be preserved, and improvements to the grounds will include landscaping and new outdoor play areas.

The Rock Creek Forest Elementary School modernization project is scheduled to go before the planning board on Jan. 10 at 1:30 p.m. at 8787 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring.